PFG Investments LLC Sells 1,759 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

PFG Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,357 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,759 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Capelight Capital Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,570,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,968 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,618,000 after buying an additional 4,770 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, BCS Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 3,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,051,063.65. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $389.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $309.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $358.40 and its 200 day moving average is $293.32. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.80 and a twelve month high of $407.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.29.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New product catalysts — AMAT unveiled two chipmaking systems aimed at 2nm AI and HPC nodes (Precision Selective Nitride PECVD and Trillium ALD), which support stronger exposure to AI/HPC demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — B. Riley raised its price target to $485 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing a multi-year upside from AI-related investment cycles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry demand signals — TSMC’s upbeat outlook and broader DRAM/data-center coverage stories support secular demand for wafer-fab equipment suppliers like AMAT. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential new customer outreach — Bloomberg/Yahoo report Elon Musk’s Terafab team has contacted equipment suppliers including Applied Materials for quotes; this signals possible future demand but timing and scale are uncertain. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum coverage — Zacks notes AMAT was up ~14.6% over one week, making it a momentum candidate; that rapid move can attract both buyers and near-term profit-takers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/valuation context — ASML’s narrowing premium vs. U.S. peers and other sector pieces provide background on relative valuations but don’t directly change AMAT’s fundamentals today. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Relative investment preference for NVIDIA — a Zacks comparison argues NVIDIA is the better buy now due to stronger data-center dominance and valuation, which could divert investor flows away from AMAT despite AMAT’s exposure to AI. Article Title

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials’ offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.